(RETIRED COMPANY DIRECTOR)
(528)
Born in Leicester on 30TH May 1914 and educated at the Leicester Junior Technical School in the Newarke.
On leaving school, he became a delivery boy for the Leicester Co-operative Society Grocery Depot in Clipstone Street. Following military service in the Second World War in which he served in the Royal Army Service Corps and the Royal Corps of Military Police, Councillor Phipps obtained a position with ABC cinemas as an Assistant manager at one of Leicester’s cinemas.
He went on to spend most of his life working in the film industry and, at various times, was employed by Walt Disney Productions, Warner Brothers, United Artists and 20th Century Fox in various capacities including being a negotiator for a leading motion picture company. During his career he also spent several period as a ‘Redcoat’ at Butlin’s Camps at Clacton, Skegness, and Bognor Regis. Ultimately he was the Principal of a Business Training Organisation.
He married Monica Ann Brown of Torquay at St Mark’s Church, Torwood, Devon, on 27 December 1950. They had two sons, Roger and Richard.
He was first elected to the City Council in 1965 as a Conservative Councillor for Newton Ward. He lost his seat in 1971 but was successfully re-elected in 1976 for the Aylestone Ward.
Councillor Phipps was also elected to the Leicestershire County Council in 1965 as the representative for the Western Park Ward.
He served on a number of the major Committees of the Leicester City Council which included Education, Health, Housing, Public Control and Works, Recreation and Entertainment, Social Services and Transport.
Councillor Phipps was a sports car and motorcycle enthusiast and an avid book collector. He tutored in public speaking and took classes in Business Studies at Glen Parva Young Offenders Centre. For some 20 years he was a Samaritan.
He was a regular churchgoer and worshipped at Leicester Cathedral were he was a sidesman.
He was appointed High Bailiff of the City on 17 May 1984 for the year 1984-85.
Councillor Phipps was elected to the office of Lord Mayor of the City on 15 May 1986. He chose his wife Monica to be his Lady Mayoress. Among the family guests at the historic ceremony, in the Council Chamber, was the former Town Clerk of Leicester John Phipps - a cousin and namesake of the Lord Mayor.
The outstanding event in Councillor Phipps’ Year of Office was the privilege of meeting their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales who came to open the Leicestershire Hospice (Leicestershire Organisation for the Relief Of Suffering) at the Groby Road Hospital Site on 30 May 1986.
The Lord Mayor visited the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment in South Armagh, Northern Ireland on 12 August 1986. Whilst there, he was taken on a dangerous helicopter tour which included visiting remote hilltop observation posts used to watch terrorists’ cross border movements.
Leicester’s twinning links were widened as a result of Councillor Phipps’ visit to Strasbourg in September 1986 where he promoted Leicester’s tourism and industry at the European Fair being held in the French City. The following month he visited Krefeld and became the first Lord Mayor of Leicester to see the streets of Krefeld from a horse-drawn coach. He also proudly witnessed
the Freedom Parade of the 16th Signal Regiment, Royal Corps of Signals through the streets of Krefeld.
The Lord Mayor was particularly pleased to welcome His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Alexander Kennedy Runcie, MC to Leicester on 25 October 1986. Councillor Phipps received the Archbishop at a Civic Reception, at the Town Hall, prior to him officiating at a Eucharist Service at the De Montfort Hall.
A further journey to West Germany was undertaken by Councillor Phipps on 18 March 1987, when he visited the 47th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery stationed at Guttersloh. The Regiment became affiliated to the City of Leicester in 1966.
On 5 May 1987, the Lord Mayor attended the Dutch Liberation Day celebrations and was presented to His Royal Highness Prince Leopold Bernhard of the Netherlands upon the occasion of the official opening of the 82nd American Airborne Division’s Liberation Museum at Groesbeek, Holland.
During a busy year Councillor Phipps received delegations from Krefeld and Strasbourg and also representatives from the USA, China, Egypt, India and Italy.
Councillor Phipps’ Mayoralty will be remembered for his successful Appeal for an Ultrasound Scanner at the Leicester Royal Infirmary. The equipment was designed to detect renal, abdominal and hip disorders in young children and brain disorders in babies. The target of £120,000 was exceeded and the scanner, one of only a handful in Britain, was handed over to the Leicester Royal Infirmary in May 1987.
Councillor Phipps’ Year of Office was concluded on 21 May 1987 whereupon he was appointed Deputy Lord Mayor for the year 1987-88.
He died in Leicester on 10July 2001 aged 87 years.
